You Know What They Say
by Tacky Socks
Summary: “Professor, can a person change the future by traveling into the past?” "...the act of time-travel is so closely guarded and monitored that it hasn’t been possible to properly test this...” “So…no one knows for sure?” -Full Summary Inside
1. Laughter's the Best Medicine

**Summary:** It is the beginning of the sixth year and Harry has had a tough time dealing with the death of Sirius. To lighten his mood, the twins gave him a package of their newest creation, 'baby bon-bons,' to try out. They are supposed to turn whoever eats them into a younger version of themselves, but they may not work out just the way the twins had planned. (This is not a story where they all turn into babies.) I haven't decided which ships I will include yet. But it's not Angsty At ALL. I hate angst.

**Disclaimer:** I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. I do not own Harry Potter or any other characters in the series. I only own the plot.

**You Know What They Say**

**_Laughter's the Best Medicine_**

By: Tacky Socks

If you've ever tried to fit eight people into one taxi, you'd know just how difficult it was. However, if you've ever tried to cram three pets and four suitcases in with you, you would know just how Harry felt.

It was 10:00 on the morning of September first and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, and Mrs. Weasley were on their way to King's Cross station to board the train that would take them to Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione were sitting next to Harry, completely silent – for once. Fred and George were crammed next to their brother in the back seat while Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were squished in the front seat with the driver. The car ride was short and silent, partly because everyone's oxygen supply was dangerously low, and partly because Harry's temper had been boiling at the surface the past summer and everyone was afraid they would only upset him.

They all got out of the taxi at half past ten and headed towards the platform that concealed a magical barrier leading to the secret scarlet engine deemed the Hogwarts Express. Stopping between platforms 9 and 10, Mrs. Weasley made sure that nobody had forgotten anything.

"I packed you all sandwiches for the trip – here you are." Mrs. Weasley handed them each a small paper bag and kissed them each on the cheek. "Now, you four be careful," she said, giving Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny a meaningful look. "And do _try_ and be careful, won't you?" The four students nodded their heads, but Mrs. Weasley didn't look convinced. "Well, go ahead then. One at a time, you've nearly half an hour yet. Why don't you go first, Ginny dear."

The youngest Weasley took a trolley with her trunk on it and pushed it toward the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. She stopped right before the seemingly solid brick wall and turned around to wave goodbye. Then, checking to make sure nobody was paying attention to her, she casually leaned forward into the wall and disappeared.

Mrs. Weasley looked at the three sixth years with tears in her eyes, a normal habit for her lately.

"Oh, _mum_, why are you crying now?" Ron asked exasperatedly.

"You three are just growing up so fast!" she choked, holding back her sobs. "You only have two more years of school left, and then…and then…" She didn't finish her sentence, but wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "And then Ginny only has one more year after that… I never actually thought I would live to the day when all my children were out of school." Harry, Ron, and Hermione just gave each other awkward looks. As if she just realized that they were in public, Mrs. Weasley looked around her and straightened up. "You three just promise me you'll watch over Ginny this year, okay?" The three of them nodded their heads, not knowing what else to do. "All right then," Mrs. Weasley said smiling. "You better get going now. You don't want to be late."

The three of them turned around and prepared to disappear through the barrier when Fred stopped them.

"Harry," he called. Harry turned around at the mention of his name and saw Fred and George beckoning him to them. Mrs. Weasley gave them a suspicious glance as Harry made his way to where they were standing, a ways away from their mother. "Don't worry mum, we'd just like a word with him before he leaves. It won't take long," they assured her. She didn't look at all convinced.

"So how's it been, Harry?" George asked in a falsely booming voice.

"It's been fine…" Harry replied, trying to figure out what they were up to.

"Good. That's good," Fred began. "It's just that we haven't seen much of you this summer, seeing as how we've been so busy with our business – "

"Which we only have you to thank for – " George interrupted.

"And a little bit of ourselves – " Fred added.

"But the point is," George continued, a bit louder in order to drown out Fred. "The point is – we wanted to show you our appreciation." Harry just stared at them blankly.

"So we wanted to give you a _complimentary_ package of Baby Bon-bons." Fred handed Harry a package of what seemed to be candy, packaged in a bright orange wrapping. Harry gave them a suspicious glance while taking out a piece of candy and examining it.

"What's the catch?" he asked. The twins immediately fixed looks of offended outrage on their faces.

"Why Harry, my boy! What on Earth are you implying?" George asked indignantly. "We can't just do something nice for you out of the goodness of our hearts?" Harry was still skeptical, but didn't press it any longer.

"So…what do they do?" he asked.

"What an excellent question!" Fred announced. "Well, they're filled with an anti-aging potion, so they're supposed to turn the consumer into a younger version of themselves," he supplied.

"They're _supposed_ to?" Harry repeated.

"Precisely!"

"You mean you haven't _tested_ them yet?!" Harry exclaimed.

"Shhh! Keep it down, Harry!" George whispered hurriedly, taking a quick glance at his mother.

"So why are you giving them to me, if they're not tested?" Harry asked.

"That's a fair question. You see, since we are no longer Hogwarts students ourselves, we are finding it harder and harder to find kids willing to subject themselves to our tests," Fred explained. "We have, of course, tested them on ourselves. We just want to make sure they work the same on everyone. No surprises then, see?"

"Plus, if it works – which I'm sure it will – " George added hastily, seeing the look of apprehension on Harry's face. "What I mean is_, when_ it works, it will be like free advertisement for us!"

"FRED! GEORGE! Come on now! He only has ten minutes left!"

"Almost done, mum!" George called back to her before turning back to Harry. "Listen, just take them okay? You don't have to say you'll use them, but if anyone gives you a hard time…"

"Okay, okay, I'll take them," Harry said, grinning. He put the brightly colored bag into his pocket.

"That's a good chap. Now, in all seriousness," George said, dropping the business tone. "I know that you've been down this summer. That's understandable; it's been rough on all of us. And I know how mum's been fretting over you like you were a baby, but now that school's started, I think the best thing for you to do is…just have some fun. Try to leave your worries behind and enjoy the year as much as possible. You know what they say – laughter's the best medicine!" Harry stared at him for a moment.

"BOYS! Let's get a move on!"

"Yeah…I'll try," Harry promised them. Then he turned toward Mrs. Weasley, who was now standing alone between platforms 9 and 10.

"Better hurry up dear," she told him softly. He hoisted his trunk onto a trolley and wheeled it around to face the barrier.

"Thanks for everything," he said to Mrs. Weasley before turning back around and running right through the brick wall. Ron and Hermione were waiting patiently with their trolleys for him on the other side.

"What took so long? What did they say to you?" Ron asked.

"Er – nothing," Harry lied. "It was nothing."

"Come on, what was i – "

"Ron, we'd better get on the train. We don't want to be late," Hermione interrupted him. "We'll see you in a little bit, Harry."

"Yeah, okay. See you." Ron and Hermione headed to the front of the train while Harry headed toward the back. He could hear Ron and Hermione arguing as they left him.

_'What was that? I just wanted to know what took so long!'_

_'It's none of your business! He obviously didn't want to tell you.'_

_'You think…know everything, you are so…'_

"Harry!" Ginny was standing near the scarlet engine with her trolley, waving for him to join her. He pushed his trolley over to her and together they looked for an empty compartment.

The train was already pretty full when they got on and there weren't many open compartments. They hoped that they could depend on Luna Lovegood having an empty compartment, which they realized was probably a safe assumption. Luna Lovegood was an odd girl, who preferred to be by herself, which suited her fine, because most people were put off by her and tried to steer clear. Finally, in the very last compartment, they found her. She was, as they suspected, alone, so they slid the door open and entered the compartment.

"Hi Luna," Ginny said brightly as she lugged her trunk in behind her. Luna looked up, her round, protuberant eyes roaming the formerly empty compartment before resting upon Harry. Harry shifted uncomfortably before sitting down in the empty seat beside Ginny. Luna continued to stare at them both in silence, and Harry could feel the awkward tension hanging above them like a thick fog in the compartment. Harry was about to say something to break he silence, but was spared the trouble when the compartment door opened and Neville Longbottom walked in.

Neville was a round faced, forgetful boy in Harry's same year and house. He looked immensely relieved to see Harry and Ginny there, as he dragged his trunk in behind him and slid the door shut.

"You guys don't mind if I sit here with you, do you?" He asked timidly.

"No, not at all – "

"Actually," Luna interrupted Ginny, "there isn't any more room in this compartment. Sorry."

"What are you talking about Luna? There's a seat right next to you – "

"Oh, it's okay, I can find a seat somewhere else," Neville said.

"No, Neville, there's a space right there!" Ginny told him.

"I told you, that seat is occupied," Luna repeated, much more calmly than Ginny.

"By who?"

"By me."

Everyone turned toward the now open door to see who had spoken. A girl about their age stood there with a large trunk at her heals. She looked around at everyone with a large, pleasant smile on her face.

"Er – my name is Alexis. I'm Luna's cousin. Are you Luna's friends?" she asked tucking a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear. She was fairly tall, and looked around the room excitedly with her round, deep brown eyes, as though she didn't dare believe that her cousin actually had friends. Nobody really knew how to answer her.

"Well, er…we are – "

"No, not really," Luna supplied. Some people might think this remark was rude, but Alexis seemed to be used to her cousin's blunt behavior, because she just smiled and heaved her trunk in behind her.

"Oh, don't let me cause any trouble," she said as Neville stood awkwardly in the corner, getting ready to leave. "Go ahead and sit down, we can all fit," she assured him.

Neville hesitated, but sat down in the seat beside Luna. Alexis lugged her trunk to the wall and sat on top of it.

"So," she said after making herself comfortable. "What are your guys' stories?"

"I'm Ginny. I'm in my fifth year this year, and in Gryffindor."

"Oh. And Gryffindor is…one of the houses, right?" Ginny nodded her head. "Good. Luna was explaining it all to me on the way here," Alexis told them as she turned to Harry.

"Oh, I – I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Alexis shook his hand.

It was the most peculiar feeling in the world. For the first time since Harry had found out he was a famous wizard, he didn't feel the awkwardness of meeting a new person because their head flicked to his scar or their eyes widened in excitement. When he introduced himself to Alexis, she didn't do anything to indicate that she thought he was anyone special or even that she knew who he was. She just continued to smile her permanent smile before turning to Neville.

"Longbottom…that name sounds familiar…"

"Oh, I don't think you'd have heard of me, I'm just a – "

"If you say you're a nobody, Neville, I'll curse you!" Ginny interrupted fiercely. Changing the subject, she turned to Alexis. "So, where are you from?" she asked Alexis.

"Can't you tell from my accent?" Alexis asked. Ginny shook her head. "Well actually, I'm originally from England, but I moved to America when I was young."

"So what brought you back here?" Neville asked. Alexis's smiled faltered, and it took her a moment to answer. When she did, however, it was in her normal quiet voice.

"My father loves this place. He couldn't be away for too long. I knew we'd be back. He got a job offer from here and we moved back straight away."

As she finished her sentence, the compartment door opened and in came Ron and Hermione. They looked absolutely exhausted, and Harry couldn't think of why. But after hearing the next sentence, he understood.

"Malfoy is such an idiot!"

"What'd he do now?" Harry asked, as Ron looked frantically around the room for something.

"He just followed us around on our patrol of the train and promised people points if they did the exact opposite of whatever _we_ told them to do," Hermione explained angrily.

"Where're the snacks?" Ron asked, clearly not paying attention. Hermione shot him a look that seemed to say that _she_ was too angry for even _him_ to be thinking about food.

"Sorry Ron, the trolley hasn't come yet. Don't you have the sandwich that your mom gave you?" Harry asked.

"No, I already ate it."

"And you're still hungry?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I don't think he's ever answered no to that question in his life," Hermione said. Everyone laughed, and perhaps that was when Ron and Hermione noticed an extra voice in the room. "Oh!" Hermione said, spotting Alexis for the first time. "Hi. I'm Hermione. Granger. I'm a prefect at Hogwarts." She held out a hand, which Alexis shook.

"I'm Alexis, Luna's cousin," she said with a smile before stretching her hand out in front of Ron, who also shook it.

"Oh, I'm Ron Weasley," he said.

"Oh, _are you_?" He looked at her with a confused look on his face, but Alexis remained smiling. "Weren't you the one who crashed that flying car into the Whomping Willow?" Ron gave Harry a weird look, but Harry saw that he was smiling too.

"Er – yeah. That was me. Me – and Harry was with me – " he added quickly. "But I was driving."

"Obviously not very well," Alexis joked.

Ron went on to tell her how and why the car was necessary, but Alexis already seemed to know the story. She listened patiently, nodding her head. Once the story was over, there was an awkward silence, so Harry decided to break it.

"Do you follow quidditch at all?" he asked.

"Yeah, a bit," Alexis replied. They talked for a while about quidditch until it began to get dark. "So, did any of you guys go to the Quidditch World Cup when it was here?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah, we all went," Ginny said, indicating her, Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"I couldn't, but I heard it was great!" Neville said.

"_Really_? Because I heard someone conjured the Dark Mark and a gang of Death Eaters tortured some muggles while rampaging across the campsite, setting things on fire." Alexis said in a calm voice.

"Oh yeah…I had forgotten about that part…"

"I believe we should change into our robes. We'll be to school soon," Luna said finally.

Not too long after, the train began to slow down, eventually coming to a stop. Alexis made to grab her trunk, but Luna told her to leave it.

They stepped off of the train into a large crowd of students and all got into a carriage that would take them to the castle. The short ride past the winged boars was quiet, but once they stepped out of the carriage, there was plenty of noise as the students around them talked excitedly to their friends, catching up on each other's summers.

Harry looked up at the magnificent castle and let out a deep sigh. He supposed that if he was going to enjoy the year, he would have to take the twins' advice and leave his problems behind. _'You know what they say – laughter's the best medicine!' Well, it's worth a try._ Harry let out a horribly loud, false laugh, for absolutely no reason whatsoever. People around him gave him weird looks, as if they seriously questioned his mental stability. This only made him give the first real smile he'd worn in a long time. _Maybe laughter is the best medicine._

****

Author's Note: I think that is by far the longest chapter I have ever written. It's seven pages! I actually had the chapter written out to be much longer, but when I saw that I was already seven pages into it and only half way done, I thought I should stop there. I'm just worried that seven pages without much of a real plot is going to be terribly dull. So sorry. But you will get more of the plot in the next chapter…hopefully. Right now it's just kind of in the plot setting stage. I hope you'll all bear with me.

-Tacky Socks


	2. There's No Place Like Home

**You Know What They Say…**

**_Chapter 2: There's No Place Like Home_**

_By: Tacky Socks_

Entering the Great Hall reminded Harry how good it felt to be back. He, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny made their way to the Gryffindor table while Luna left them to find a seat at the Ravenclaw table. Alexis just stood in the doorway, not really knowing what to do until someone behind her called out her name. Professor McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher, was walking toward her with a roll of parchment in her frail hands. Alexis turned around to face her.

"Alexis Mclean?" she barked.

"Yeah, I'm Alexis," she replied shakily.

"Come with me please," she said. Alexis had no choice but to follow her out of the Great Hall. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione.

"Think she'll be sorted with the rest of the first years?" he wondered. Ron and Hermione just shrugged.

"I've never heard of anyone transferring into Hogwarts before," Hermione said. "I'm sure it must have happened before. I wonder what they have to do?"

"I dunno, but I know _I'd_ feel pretty foolish if it were me up there with a bunch of kids half my size," Ron commented. "If she is being sorted with the rest of them, I sure hope they hurry up. I'm starving!"

The Great Hall was filled with the chatter of the students as they waited for the sorting to begin. Even Harry had to admit that it seemed to be taking an unusually long time. Hagrid had arrived some time ago, sliding in through the door behind the teacher's table. But McGonagall was still missing from her peers. Harry craned his neck around looking for her, when he heard an unfamiliar voice from his right.

"What is he looking for?"

Alexis had taken a seat next to him and was talking with Ron and Hermione. Moments later, McGonagall walked through the giant doors to the Great Hall with a stream of first years tagging along behind her. Harry saw their nervous, colorless faces and was reminded of his first day at Hogwarts. When they were all standing in front of the teacher's table, McGonagall unrolled her parchment and placed the crooked, old stool on which the sorting hat sat in front of them.

"Now when I call your name," she started, "you will step forward, place the sorting hat on your head, and wait to be sorted." She cleared her throat and looked down at the first name.

"Adams, Jane." A short, curly red haired girl walked up to the hat and nearly collapsed onto the stool. After just a few short moments, the hat had made its decision.

"_HUFFLEPUFF!_"

"Brown, Alexander." A tall, brown haired boy stepped forward and placed the hat on his head.

"_GRYFFINDOR!_"

"Daniels, Andrew."

"_GRYFFINDOR!_"

"Davis, Valencia."

"_SLYTHERIN!_"

It went on like this for what seemed like hours, before _'Walton, Erica'_ was finally sorted into Ravenclaw. Harry's stomach was grumbling painfully, as he stared at his plate, willing it to fill up with food. When it actually did, he was taken by surprise and jerked back.

"Finally," Ron mumbled, scooping a large helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate. "I think every year we get more and more first years."

"I'm just glad it wasn't me up there," Alexis said, sounding relieved. "How nerve-wracking! Having to sit up there all by yourself with the entire school watching… I would have fainted; I hate being singled out."

"So were you actually sorted into Gryffindor?" Harry asked curiously.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Alexis replied, busy serving herself some salad. "Up in Dumbledore's office. It was just me and McFlannigon though."

"McGonagall," Hermione corrected her.

"Right, McGonagall. There was nobody else there, watching me. Thank goodness," she said, taking a large bite of a drumstick. "Pass the soup?"

After about half an hour, a dull roar spread across the grand room as more and more students finished with their feast. Harry had just pushed his plate of half eaten pumpkin pie away from him as Dumbledore stood to his feet.

"Welcome!…to another school year." His arms were held up, opened warmly. His smiling eyes twinkled behind the thin, moon shaped spectacles balanced on his crooked nose. "There are just a few start of term announcements I feel I must make. First of all, I would like to remind all students that the dark forest on the edge of the grounds is strictly forbidden, and students are to enter it under no circumstances." The announcement had been made every year since Harry had arrived at Hogwarts, but never before had Dumbledore looked so serious as he made it. "Next," he continued, "it is my pleasure to introduce Professor McLean, who has graciously agreed to take on the job of our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was scattered applause as the newly appointed professor stood up. He was tall and slender, with dark hair the fell loosely over his deep brown eyes. A pair of golden rimmed glasses rested behind his ears, so that when the light of the candles hit them at just the right angle, his eyes seemed to sparkle with a magic unknown by anyone but him.

"Yes, yes, welcome." Dumbledore's smile faded, but his expression remained warm. "Now, I'm afraid that by now you all will have heard the upsetting story: Lord Voldemort has returned. It is not my job to scare you or try to convince you one way or another." He glanced sorrowfully to the left side of the room, to the Slytherin table, which had considerably less students then in the past years. "It is merely my job to prepare you for whatever obstacles you may encounter in the future. This is perhaps why it is more important for you now, more than ever, to continue with the education provided for you at Hogwarts. At the moment, there is little we can do to change what has happened, but if we remain focused and unified, there is little we cannot accomplish." A reverent silence hung over the Hall. After a minute or so, the corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched into his familiar smile as he raised his wand. "I think that this would be the perfect time for our school song, a tradition which has been neglected these past couple years. Everybody pick your favorite tune!" The tiniest flick of his wand produced a thin, golden ribbon, twisting itself into round, curvy letters, which joined together to form the words of their school song. The whole school sang along.

_"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald _

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling,_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_Teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot."_

When the last people finished, Dumbledore lowered his wand and clapped loudly.

"Now, I daresay you are all in need of a good night's rest. Prefects, lead your first years to your dorms, and sweet dreams to all."

It was as if the building was crumbling around them, so loud was the sound of excitement and hurried footsteps as the herd of students got up from their tables and made their way out the large oak doors of the Great Hall, toward their respective common rooms.

"Malapropism." The familiar portrait of the lady dressed in pink swung open, admitting the Gryffindor students into their common room. Harry walked into the room, quietly admiring it's memorable charm and warmth. The fire in the corner looked extremely inviting, as it crackled cheerfully, sending dancing shadows upon the walls around him. But he thought even more longingly of the comfortable four-poster upstairs, which he knew was waiting patiently for him, and so followed Ron up the stairs to their dormitory.

Lying in bed with the covers pulled up to his chin, Harry felt a sense of great comfort. There's something about being surrounded by familiarity that gives you a sense of ease and relaxation. Even as he lie there in his bed, listening to Neville's snores, he found himself thinking that if nothing else, he was safe. It seemed to Harry that nothing could possibly touch him as long as we was here, with the people he cared about most, the people he had practically grown up with.

After all, tomorrow is another day.

Author's Note: Okay, this was a short chapter, but if you remember, it was cut in half. (Actually, it was considerably less than half, but who's counting…) The main reason it is so short is because I was struggling to keep it in Harry's POV. I know that I hate reading other stories with OCs where it's all about them, and not really at all about the HP canon characters. The reason I add OCs is to better my writing skills with character development. So I had to tweak some things and cut some others, which made out for a really short chapter. To make it up to you though, I'm going to add a scene that I cut because Harry wasn't there, and therefore couldn't have witnessed it. Here it is:

---

It was as if the building was crumbling around them, so loud was the sound of excitement and hurried footsteps as the herd of students got up from their tables and made their way out the large oak doors of the Great Hall, toward their respective common rooms. Alexis held back while the rest of the students slowly filed out. When everyone else was gone, she walked up to the teacher's table with a big smile on her face. Professor McLean was talking to another teacher at the time, but he caught her coming out of the corner of his eye and quickly wrapped up the conversation.

"Shouldn't you be heading up to your dorm?" he asked. "It's pretty late and you've got a big day tomorrow."

"I'm going; I just wanted to say congratulations again," Alexis replied, absolutely beaming.

"Well thanks, honey," he said, returning the smile. "But you really should get going. I don't want you up too late. And I need to get some sleep tonight as well." He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Perhaps we both need to make good first impressions tomorrow." Alexis gave him a suspicious stare.

"Meaning…?" she asked accusatively. Her father wasn't looking her in the eye, but rather taking his time in adjusting his glasses back onto his nose.

"Meaning, you'll want to make some new friends, won't you?" he covered. "And you'll have a hard time if you're crabby."

"I'm not five years old anymore, dad. I don't need twelve hours of sleep in order to get a good night's sleep," Alexis said somewhat indignantly. Her father didn't reply, but gave her a stern, meaningful look. "Alright, alright, I'm going," she gave in, holding her hands up in defeat. "I'll see you in the morning," she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Good night dad."

"Good night honey."

---

Ok, so that's it. That's not all I cut – originally I had Alexis not being able to find her way to the common room because she had waited for everybody to leave. But she found Neville lying on the floor in the middle of a hallway because Malfoy had put the leg-locker curse on him again and he couldn't remember the counter-curse. In return for performing the counter-curse, Neville showed Alexis where the common room was. – However, I'm a little glad that this part was cut because I'd like to have a little more faith in Neville, and don't really like the idea of making him look foolish just for some stupid plot point. This may still have happened, or it may not have, it's really irrelevant. But seeing as Harry wasn't_ there_ either, I had to cut it in order to keep the story in Harry's perspective. Again, I'm sorry there wasn't any action in this chapter, but there WILL be in the next one, even if I have to make up nonsensical entertainment for you. Well, I would appreciate any comments you have about my story, so a review would be nice. But I'm not going to force you.

Shazaam!

-Tacky Socks


	3. The Potions Master

You Know What They Say… The Potions "Master" 

By: Tacky Socks

The sun rose early on the morning of the second, filling the boy's dorm with a soft yellow radiance that shone through the window and bounced off of the walls. Harry woke feeling particularly groggy and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before affixing his glasses onto them. Ron awoke just as Harry was pulling on his robes, and once ready, they walked down to the Great Hall together.

Harry helped himself to toast and marmalade at the Gryffindor table. Taking a swig of orange juice, he glanced up to see Professor McGonagall walking down the table, handing out schedules. He took his when she reached him and glanced down at the list of classes.

"Oh man," he heard Ron say from his left. Without asking, he knew why Ron was so disappointed. Double Potions, first thing in the morning. "I don't know if I can put up with Snape for that long so early in the morning. And on a Monday too! This is just too much."

"What is he complaining about?" Hermione had sat down across from them and began buttering her whole-wheat toast.

"Potions," Harry stated simply. Hermione looked down at her schedule and nodded silently. "Well, we knew that we'd have to put up with him for two more years if we did well on our O.W.L.s." Hermione had been one of the very few who had gotten an O on her potions exam, something that she took great pride in. Harry and Ron, it turns out, were very surprised upon receiving their exam results to find that they had both managed an E on theirs, meaning that they still had to suffer through Snape's classes until they graduated. Harry would have desperately liked to have dropped it and been done with it, but in order to become an Auror, he would need it for his N.E.W.T.s. Ron said that he would continue taking it in order to keep Harry company, but he had began to grow red as he said it and immediately changed the subject afterwards.

"Well, at least we'll be able to get a feel for what the new Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher is like," Harry said. "Although I can't say I'm exactly looking forward to it; I hope this one has a touch more sanity than the last few…what?" Hermione was giving him an impatient glare. She jerked her head to her right, where Alexis was sitting a few seats away. Harry didn't understand, and he told her so with raised eyebrows and a shoulder shrug. Hermione obviously didn't want to say anything out loud, so she merely continued to stare at him, willing him to come to his senses. Ron watched the scene carefully, as if the staring contest was solely for his entertainment. Finally understanding, as if he had somehow read Hermione's mind, he stopped watching them and took a sip of his orange juice. Harry then looked to him for clarity.

"Their last names are both McLean, you dolt. Figure it out," he said bluntly. Alexis turned at the sound of her name and looked at them curiously.

"Er – we were just wondering if you knew the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Harry supplied in response to her unasked question.

"He's my dad," she replied proudly.

"Oh," Harry said, thinking he probably should have seen this earlier. "Well, that's good," he said rather lamely to Ron and Hermione. "At least we won't have to deal with another crazy egotist."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Alexis joked, turning her gaze to the High Table, where her father was talking animatedly to Professor Flitwick, flailing his arms about to better articulate his point. Poor Professor Flitwick looked quite taken aback, but was politely nodding his head and smiling nervously as the new teacher spoke. Alexis laughed before looking back down to her schedule. "They should really include a map with this thing," she said. "How am I supposed to know where the 'North Tower' is?"

"You can walk with us if you want," Hermione offered. "It doesn't take long to figure out where everything is."

"Okay, thanks."

"We'd better leave now though. We don't want to be late to Snape's class," Harry said. Alexis emptied her glass of milk and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Okay, let's go."

The temperature gradually decreased with each additional step towards the familiar dungeon where the potions classes were held. The four students entered the classroom and found seats in the back. Just as they sat down, a door behind the teacher's desk opened and a man dressed in black robes stepped into the classroom. Their Potions Master swept his empty eyes across the sea of students before addressing the class.

"Your presence in this class indicates that you all received high marks in your potions O.W.L.s at the closing of last term," he began. His voice was low and soft, just barely above a whisper. However the tone wasn't of praise, as one might expect. "As such, I am to expect that your knowledge and level in potion making is well above par." His eyes bore into Harry's for the briefest moment before he continued with his speech. "Over the next two years, it will be my job to prepare you for your N.E.W.T.s, which, as long as you pay attention and follow my instructions, you should have no problem passing.

"In order to review what many of you have undoubtedly forgotten over the summer, today's potion will be a simple one." The professor tapped his wand on the blank chalkboard behind him and the ingredients slowly began to appear upon it. Under the ingredients, the round, curvy writing began to form into instructions on how to prepare the potion.

Harry stared at the board in disbelief. This was supposed to be _simple_? This was one of the most complicated potions Harry had ever seen, save the Polyjuice Potion Hermione had brewed in their second year. He looked sideways first to Ron, who was taking out his ingredients with a look of deep confusion on his face, then to Hermione, who had already started adding things to the cauldron set out in front of her. Sighing, he read through the instructions and got to work on his own potion.

"Your potion should be a clear blue color by now," Snape called out to the class, sneering maliciously as he stood over Harry's cauldron, which was now acid green. He swayed for a moment where he stood before deciding to continue down the table to see the other students' progress. He stopped again as he reached Alexis's cauldron. Her concoction was slightly better looking than Harry's; it was a thick, turquoise color at least. But she seemed to be having a tough time of it, as Harry watched her stir feverishly, first clockwise, then counterclockwise. Snape's lips curled into a cruel, satisfied smile as he turned and stared down into her cauldron, which had started to emit sparks.

"Apparently," he began, loud enough to draw the rest of the students' attention, "your old school didn't put much emphasis on following the instructions," he remarked. "Or perhaps you simply decided to disregard the directions and make up your own." Alexis didn't respond, but her cheeks were now filled with a rosy tint. "Tell me," he asked as some of the Slytherins snickered behind his back. "Did you read the part on the board where it talks about the scarab shells?"

Harry looked to her pile of scarab shells, which were supposed to have been chopped, but which she had ground into a fine powder. He then noticed that she had mixed these up with her dried mandrake roots, which were supposed to have been ground into a fine powder, but which she had roughly chopped. Alexis reread the directions and looked back down to her own ingredients, blushing more deeply as she realized her mistake. She mumbled something inaudible with her head hung down so that she wasn't looking Snape in the eyes.

"What was that?" he asked in mock politeness, though Harry was sure he had heard.

"I got them mixed up," she repeated in a small voice.

"Indeed," he replied nastily. "Well, it's no good now." He waved his wand and the contents of her cauldron disappeared, along with all of the ingredients she had prepared. "You still have half the class time left; you could try to start over…if you can read the directions properly this time."

Harry found himself upset by this display. He knew how it felt to be humiliated in front of the class by Snape; something ought to be done about it. His anger slowly rose as he heard Snape praising Malfoy for the nice clear blue color of his potion. With half of the class time gone, he decided to grit his teeth and get back to work before Snape came back to wipe away his potion.

"Why does he hate me?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking up the dungeon steps to their next class. Alexis had caught up with them after handing in her unfinished potion to Snape.

"Don't worry about it, Snape hates everybody," Harry tried to console her.

"Except for the Slytherins. He favors them because they're in his own house," Ron added bitterly.

"So…what? Is public humiliation his way of making the new kids feel like they fit in?" Alexis asked savagely. "I didn't notice him bullying any of you."

"Oh, I'm sure you won't be disappointed much longer. Just wait until tomorrow," Harry sighed.

"I suppose it's because of your father though," Hermione commented absent-mindedly.

"Well, duh," Harry said, misunderstanding her. "I already knew that."

"Hm? Oh, not you Harry. I meant…well Snape probably seems even more unpleasant toward Alexis because her father is the new Dark Arts teacher," Hermione clarified.

"Oh, right," Harry replied quietly.

"There's probably some obvious reason that I'm completely missing, but what does my dad's job have to do with anything?" Alexis asked.

"Well, it's sort of common knowledge that Snape really wants your father's position," Hermione explained.

"Why would he want the Dark Arts job so badly?" Alexis asked. "He's not…" she lowered her voice. "He's not…into that kind of stuff, is he?" She looked at the three of them very seriously. Neither Harry nor Ron answered immediately, but exchanged significant glances. Hermione, however, brushed it off right away.

"Definitely not," she said. Harry gave her a very dark look, but didn't say anything more, as they had just come to stop outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where a queue had formed by the door.

"Is he not here yet?" Ron asked Neville, who was at the end of the line.

"Nope," he answered. "And the door's locked."

"Excuse me, excuse me." They heard a man's voice from the back of the queue. Professor McLean was pushing through the sea of students, trying to get to the door. "Sorry about that," he apologized as he unlocked the door and let them all in. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville found four seats in the back, but Alexis – unsurprisingly – took a seat up front.

"Well," Professor McLean began as he stood in front of the class, surveying them pleasantly. "I suppose I'm not setting a very good example, being late on the first day, am I?" he asked no one in particular. "I don't generally accept students being tardy to my class, but I suppose it happens to the best of us. I'll excuse one tardy from each of you during the year, but only one. Otherwise I expect you all to be on time and ready to learn." He smiled warmly at the students before continuing. "Now, for those of you who may have forgotten, my name is James Mclean. You may call me whatever you feel comfortable with – as long as it's appropriate. I am here to teach you how to defend yourself against the most vile dark creatures and spells that you may run into throughout the course of your lifetime. It is not my intention to scare you, but to prepare you." At these words Harry was reminded so strongly of Dumbledore that he took an instant liking to Professor Mclean. "Now, on with the lesson."

The entire class was dedicated to reviewing what they had learned thus far in their 'educational careers,' as Professor McLean constantly referred to it. Telling the class that he understood how difficult it might have been for them to constantly switch teachers, he had confessed that he would have found it hard to remember everything that had been thrown their way over the past five years. They had just gotten to the Unforgivable Curses – which James insisted they review, even though they shouldn't even have learned it yet – when the bell rang.

"No homework!" the Professor called as the class packed up their belongings. "We'll continue where we left off on Wednesday! See you then!"

The students filed out of the classroom in relatively good spirits, having had a satisfactory class without having been assigned homework. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Alexis all walked together to the Great Hall for lunch, where they found seats at the Gryffindor table.

"We've got some free time after lunch," Harry noticed as he examined his schedule. "What do you guys want to do?"

"We should get a start on that potions essay," Hermione suggested. Neither Ron nor Harry looked as if this idea particularly interested them, but as there wasn't much else to do, they agreed. "We can go to the library, it will be quiet there,' Hermione said.

"Do you mind if I go with you guys?" Alexis asked. "I wanted to see what the library here was like."

"No, that's fine," Hermione said. "The library's fairly good here. Not as thorough as public libraries in England and France, but it's better than Durmstrang's library. Or even Beauxbaton's." She spoke as if a school's library was the indication of how good it was. Alexis just nodded her head in understanding.

"I can't wait," she said, taking a sandwich square from the platter in front of her.

"Wow, this is impressive," Alexis said, walking into the library. The library was fairly empty, save for Madam Pince, the ruffled librarian.

"Here's an empty table. Let's sit down," Hermione remarked, setting her bag down on the wooden tabletop and pulling out a chair for herself. The rest of them sat down with her and took out their potions books. They had been working for not ten minutes when they heard a very unwelcome voice from behind them.

"Well, what do we have here?" Harry felt something and spun around to see Malfoy standing, uncharacteristically, alone. In his hand was a bright orange bag that Harry recognized as the Baby Bon-bons Fred and George had given him; Harry had forgotten to take them out of his pocket.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron spat.

"I was just going to sample some of this candy," Malfoy replied, taking out one of the pieces. "Who gave it to you, Potter? I hope it wasn't a consolation gift. I hear you've been feeling a bit…_black_ this summer." He smirked maliciously at the comment. Harry felt something at the back of his throat, which was replaced instantly by mounting rage.

"You won't like them," he said calmly. He figured that if Malfoy was going to have one, it wasn't going to be Harry's fault; he had tried to warn him. He watched almost anxiously as Malfoy unwrapped the candy and raised it to his mouth.

"Well we'll just see…" He popped it into his mouth. Harry didn't know what they tasted like, as he hadn't tried one himself, but judging by the foul face Malfoy was making, he gathered that they weren't very savory. Harry waited for something to happen, but before it did, Malfoy spit the candy out onto the floor. "That was disgusting! Can't you even afford normal candy? Or did Weasley give those to you?" he exclaimed, throwing the bag back onto the table so that its contents spilled out across the table. The sampled piece of candy lay on the floor, rapidly melting into the carpet. "What was in those?!" Malfoy asked, watching as the sticky puddle it had formed began to bubble and hiss.

"I – I don't know," Harry answered honestly, beginning to worry. The puddle was growing bigger and bigger, spreading throughout the small library. Right on cue, Madam Pince rushed over to them.

"What is this mess?" she shrieked, pointing to where the candy-ball used to be.

"Er – " Harry began, but was interrupted by Madam Pince screaming as the puddle began to climb up her shoes.

"What is this?!" she repeated, shaking her foot free and rushing out of the room. Malfoy by this time had gotten a chair to stand on, so that the sugary substance didn't get on his shoes, and soon Harry found Alexis, Hermione, and Ron doing the same. "I'm getting the headmaster!" she called, and she scrambled down the hall and out of sight. The lake of candy coating was now covering the entire floor of the library.

"This seems like something from a bad horror movie," Alexis commented, looking down at the gooey liquid with distaste.

"You were going to let me eat that?!" Malfoy cried, bending down to closer examine it.

"I think it's subsiding," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes to the far wall, where they could definitely see how high the liquid had once been.

"You're right; it is," Ron said, following her gaze. The liquid became less and less until it was just a small puddle again. Finally, it disappeared completely, absorbed by the carpet. Everyone jumped off of their chairs and looked around. Something seemed different. Hermione looked at her watch.

"Oh no! We're late for class! Do you think we should go to Charms, or should we go find Madam Pince to tell her it's gone?" she asked.

"You can do whatever you want, I'm going to class," Malfoy said, turning to leave the library.

"We should probably go too," Harry said. "Madam Pince can find out for herself when she gets back. And I'd rather not be here when she does."

"Yeah, and Flitwick doesn't like it when you're late," Ron added.

"Oh, okay," Hermione consented. "Let me just get my bag."

They reached the charms classroom fifteen minutes late. They wrenched open the doors and hurried inside, spewing a rushed apology for being late.

"Sorry professor," Hermione said. "There was an incident in the library, and we just…" She stopped in the middle of her sentence, looking around the attentive classroom. "Is this the wrong room?" she asked. The classroom itself looked the same, but the professor who stood in the front was most certainly not Professor Flitwick, and none of the students looked the least bit familiar.

"Excuse me? Are you lost?" the man up front asked suspiciously.

"Er – " Harry started, giving Ron and Hermione weird looks. "Where's Professor Flitwick?" he asked politely.

"Who?" The students around them laughed quietly, as if they thought this professor was a figment of Harry's imagination. "Do you even attend this school?" the man asked. "Why don't I call the headmaster and he can get this all sorted out."

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked, perhaps a little too anxiously; more kids sniggered behind his back.

"Yes, Dumbledore. Severus – " a tall, thin student about Harry's age lifted his greasy black head of hair – "why don't you go get the headmaster."

The boy got up and left the room. Harry could hear the students' whispers, feel their stares. But even more importantly, he could feel Alexis's confused look as she whispered, "wait a minute…that looked like – was that…_Snape_?"

Author's Note: I bet you didn't see that one coming! Sorry to all those who wanted a story about the characters as babies, but that just doesn't interest me all too much. I hope you'll like this better. I decided to put a full summary on the first chapter, because I don't want people to get the wrong idea about the story, which I realized a little too late is probably one of the reasons that not very many people would read it. Well, as I promised, this chapter is longer with a more moving story line. So if you like it (or even if your don't) feel free to review. I don't mind flames; I actually think they're kind of funny. But I'm just weird that way. Well, that's all for tonight. I'll get started on the next chapter soon. Until then.

-Tacky Socks


	4. You Don't Realize What You Had

**You Know What They Say…**

_You don't realize what you had until it's gone._

By: Tacky Socks

xXx

_Last Chapter:_

"Do you even attend this school?" the man asked. "Why don't I call the headmaster and he can get this all sorted out."

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked, perhaps a little too anxiously; more kids sniggered behind his back.

"Yes, Dumbledore. Severus – " a tall, thin student about Harry's age lifted his greasy black head of hair – "why don't you go get the headmaster."

The boy got up and left the room. Harry could hear the students' whispers, feel their stares. But even more importantly, he could feel Alexis's confused look as she whispered, "wait a minute…that looked like – was that…_Snape_?"

xXx

"Ah, here they are," the unfamiliar charms teacher said, listening to the footsteps that carried down the hall toward their classroom. The large wooden doors opened, framing Dumbledore and young Severus. Snape made his way back to his seat among his fellow classmates while Dumbledore looked from the teacher up front to the four students standing in the middle of the classroom. "Good afternoon, Headmaster."

"Good afternoon William," Dumbledore said kindly, as if he had no particular interest in why he had been summoned.

"There – er – seems to be a…_issue_," the man who appeared to go by William said, gesturing to Harry and the others. Dumbledore surveyed the four of them carefully before replying.

"I see." That was all. Just those two words. Dumbledore took off his glasses and made a rather slow deal of wiping them on the front of his robes. After he had replaced them on his nose, he let out a deep sigh. "Will you four follow me, please?" Harry didn't know what to say in front of all these people, so he settled to trail behind the headmaster as he exited the room. Looking back, he saw that his friends were doing the same.

They walked down the halls in silence, finally stopping at a large statue, which Harry knew to lead to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore said the password ("Pickled Pasties") and the statue jumped aside, revealing the escalating stairs that ended in a large wooden door decorated with a brass lion head knocker. Dumbledore opened the door and stood back, holding out his hand to invite them in. The students filed in, unsure of what exactly was going to happen, and stood uncomfortably in front of his desk.

"Please," Dumbledore said gently, taking a seat behind the desk and turning to face them all, "make yourself at home." The four of them sat down in the chairs he had summoned to his desk and looked back at him uncertainly. "I am unsure of why you have graced our school with your presence," Dumbledore began. "But I would like to welcome you." The four teenagers stared at him in disbelief. "I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster here at Hogwarts." He held out his hand cordially for them to shake, but none of them moved. Instead they exchanged quick glances with each other, trying to communicate without words.

"We know who you are," Alexis said. "We're…we're students at Hogwarts. Or at least we were…" she explained uncertainly.

"Actually, I think we're_ going_ _to be_," Harry corrected her. Dumbledore looked at the two of them in slight alarm.

"Indeed?" he asked, intrigued. "Do you care to explain?"

"Well…there's been one other time that something like this has happened to me," Harry began, feeling foolish. "I had gone into someone's memory – into the past." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"So are you telling me that the four of you are from the future?" he asked. They nodded their heads.

"Yes, but I can't be in a memory this time, because before nobody could see or hear me," Harry insisted. Dumbledore nodded his head.

"And you don't know how you got to be here?" he asked. "In this time?"

"No," Hermione said.

"Well, we don't know exactly how. But…something happened…in the library," Alexis said quietly. Dumbledore signaled for her to continue. "I don't know for sure if this has anything to do with it, but it would make sense; it was really weird, and it happened just before we got…. here.

We were in the library studying and this boy walked over to us – "

"Malfoy! We forgot about him!" Ron began, but Dumbledore held up a hand to quiet him.

"We'll get to that in a minute. Please, continue."

"Okay, well, like I was saying, we were studying when this boy – Malfoy, I guess his name was – came up to us. He stole some candy from Harry's pocket, but evidently he didn't like it, because he spit it out onto the floor. Then the candy started to…liquefy. It was weird. At first, it just started to bubble, but then it started to spread and envelope the entire room in a lake of…whatever it was," Alexis finished.

"What kind of candy was it?" Dumbledore asked. The other three looked to Harry.

"Well, I er – " he started, clearing his throat. "I don't really know. I think they were called Baby Bon-bons, but I don't really…" he was lost for words. "They were given to me by some people I know. They had invented them." He avoided Ron's eyes. "They're in the prank business, and they had asked me to test them out for them. I think they were supposed to turn the person who ate them into…a baby, I guess. I had kind of forgotten about them," he admitted.

"I see," Dumbledore said, looking down at his desk, a small smile on his lips. "Well, I guess – " but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in."

A tall, familiar looking witch entered the large office, leading a young boy with platinum blond hair in by the elbow.

"What seems to be the problem, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"I found this boy," she jerked him around to face the rest of them, confirming everyone's suspicions as to who it was, "wandering around the corridor. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me it was, 'none of my business,'" she replied shrewdly. "He _claims_ that he is a sixth year Slytherin, but I don't recall the face," she added. Dumbledore looked from McGonagall to Harry, who nodded in answer to his unasked question.

"Thank you Minerva; you may leave him here. I will deal with him," Dumbledore said, gesturing to rickety wooden chair near the door for the boy to sit down in. McGonagall left with a sharp look at the miscreant, shutting the door gently behind her.

"Is this the boy?" Dumbledore asked.

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy spat, glaring at the four Gryffindors sitting in front of the desk. "What are you trying to get me in trouble for this time, Potter?" Dumbledore did the tiniest of double takes at the name Potter, but quickly recovered. "Did you go running to Dumbledore just because I took your stupid candy?"

"Yeah, this is Malfoy," Ron answered.

"Why were you roaming the halls?" Dumbledore asked, changing direction.

"My schedule's messed up," he replied rudely, unfolding a blue piece of paper he had taken out of his pocket and handing it to Dumbledore. "It says I'm supposed to have Ancient Runes, but there's a different class in there right now." Dumbledore looked down at the parchment and sighed.

"The students next to you have come to me with a strange story indeed," Dumbledore began.

"It wasn't my fault that candy nearly drowned us all! It's his; he brought it!" He pointed at Harry. "You're not even supposed to have candy in the library!"

"Relax, you're not in trouble," Dumbledore interrupted him. "These students seem to be under the impression that they have traveled back in time," he told the boy.

"What! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Unless those were some magical time traveling candies," Malfoy scoffed. Nobody said anything. Malfoy looked at Harry incredulously. "Where'd _you_ get time traveling candy?" he demanded.

"It wasn't supposed to make us travel back in time, you dimwit," Harry retorted.

"Well what was it supposed to do idiot! Or do all your treats take you to different places?"

"That's enough," Dumbledore said calmly. "That's not important. What is important is that nobody else finds out who you really are. There could be dire consequences if anyone found out that you are from the future…perhaps especially you." He stared pointedly at Harry. "Now, do you have any of these candies left?" he asked Harry.

"Er – there might be some in the library still. Otherwise I don't know," Harry replied.

"Well, it would be helpful to have a sample of them if we want to get you back to your own time; we'll want to know what was in them that brought you here." Dumbledore paused and took in a breath. "While you are here, we will tell everybody that you are new exchange students from…"

"America?" Alexis suggested hopefully.

"America it is," he agreed. "Don't tell anyone your real names; use fake ones. I don't know how long you're going to be here, but we want to get you back to your time as quickly as possible. Since you are still wearing your school robes, the four of you – " he indicated Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alexis – "will be in Gryffindor, and you – " he looked at Malfoy – "will be in Slytherin. Dinner is about to start; you can all go down to the Great Hall now."

Dumbledore stood up and held the door open for them. Together, the five of them walked down the staircase and headed for the Great Hall where they would join their new classmates.

xXx

_James McLean sat up at the center table in the Great Hall surveying the students before him. Turning back to his plate, he took a spoonful of cod soup to his mouth and nearly choked on it as he was jerked forward. _

_"You got through your first day of classes alive, then?" Professor Sprout asked, giving him a hearty slap on the back. "Aye, I knew ye'd be fine; great lot of kids here, yeh see. Severus had his doubts, but I knew ye'd be fine." She then took her turn to look around the Great Hall, taking in the students as they recounted the day's events. "Great lot of kids…" she repeated. "Oh, speakin' of which – did your girl get sick this afternoon?" she asked casually, dishing herself some fresh greens. "Didn't get a chance to see her in class today. I had the Gryffindors second after lunch. Come ta think of it, there was a bunch o' kids missin' from Gryffindor today. Must be somethin's goin' around in that house. I wonder if they've been in to Poppy."_

_"Hmm…Alexis wasn't in class this afternoon?" James asked. "That's not like her; she mustn't have been feeling well." _She better be sick_, he thought. "I better check up on her after dinner. Make sure she's been to see Madam Pomfrey."_

_"Aye, give my regards," Professor Sprout said, diving into her supper._

_"Don't worry, I will._

__

xXx

_At 8:30, James found his feet carrying him to the Gryffindor common room. He arrived at the portrait of the Lady in a pink silk dress and said the password._

_"Malapropism." _

_The portrait opened to admit him and he stepped into the charming, crowded common room. He scanned the heads for his daughter, but she wasn't among the excitedly chattering group of students. A few students huddled near him noticed him and looked his way, but quickly looked away as he caught sight of them. _

_"Excuse me. Do any of you know who Alexis McLean is?" A short blond haired boy nodded his head cautiously. _ _"Have you seen her lately by any chance?" The boy shook his head no. _Perhaps she really is sick_, he thought worriedly. "Okay, thank you." He left the room and headed down to the hospital wing. When he got there, he found Madam Pomfrey tending to a younger girl with a throbbing red hand._

_"Can I help you, Mr. McLean?" she asked, giving the girl an ice pack for her injury. "Hold that there for a minute while the potion sinks in. It may take a while to heal, but we'll have you out of here tonight for sure." Then she turned back to James. "Sorry, did you answer me?"_

_"No, no," he assured her. "Actually I was wondering if my daughter was here? Alexis? She's about yay high with dark brown – "_

_"Alexis isn't here, Mr. McLean. It's just me and Ardell at the moment."_

_"Do you know if she was in here earlier today?" he asked._

_"No, I can tell you she hasn't been. Though Madam Pince was in here earlier looking for her and some others. Apparently they made a mess in the library and didn't clean it up. She was in a right state. You might want to check with her," Madam Pomfrey suggested. _

_"I'll do that. Thank you." James turned around to leave, but stopped at the door and turned back. "Sorry," he began, "but could you tell me where the library is?"_

_xXx_

_"No, Mr. McLean, I haven't seen them since after lunch. They came in here and made a swimming pool out of my library. I went to get the headmaster, but by the time I got back they had already left, leaving me to clean up!"_

_James let out a long sigh. _

_"So you didn't see them leave?" he asked the librarian. _

_"No, I told you, they left before I got back. To escape punishment, I suspect. But don't worry, I have their numbers!" Madam Pince shot fiercely. _

_"What did you mean when you said they made a swimming pool out of the library?" James pressed. _

_"Well, it was some sort of joke item I would guess. It was a strange pink liquid that kept spreading and filled up the entire room! The shelves were covered with it! They ruined many of the books, too, I can tell you that! There will have to be some replacements, thanks to those hoodlums!"_

_"Can you tell me who she was with?" _

_"Well, I don't know everyone, but that Harry Potter was with her. And Hermione Granger too. There were two other boys, but I don't know their names. A blond and a red-head."_

_"Well, I'm having trouble tracking her down. I'm sorry for all the damage, but once we find her, I'll be sure and make her pay you back," James promised, leaving the library. He then turned and headed to the headmaster's office. It had been a long, tiresome day, but one thing was for sure: his daughter was missing._

xXx

"Could you pass the potatoes?"

Harry looked to his left, and his heart leapt. His _dad_. Only two seats away from him. It felt as if he were looking into a mirror that played funny tricks on you, like changing your eye color. James was looking at Harry expectantly.

"Oh, s-sure. Here." James took the potatoes and turned away from them, to his friends, who Harry instantly recognized as a younger Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and his godfather – Sirius Black. Harry's stomach suddenly felt as if it had been filled with a cage-full of butterflies at the sight of them. Just the fact that he was in their actual presence, where they could actually see him and hear him was enough to put a sort of goofy grin on his face. For a moment he had actually considered walking up and introducing himself. _'Hi, my name is Harry Potter. I'm your son and I came from a future where two of you are dead and the other two are enemies.'_ Somehow he came to his senses and realized this probably wasn't a good idea.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ron asked from across the table. Harry had been sitting with his fork of rice held still in front of his mouth for the last five minutes, staring off into space with the goofy grin still on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry replied automatically, not thinking about what he was saying. The truth was, he wasn't sure exactly how he felt at that point, but he was sure that 'fine' wasn't the word to describe it. He snapped out of his trance and ate the forkful of rice.

"_Ron_!" Hermione lowered her voice. "We're supposed to use fake names, remember?"

"_You just called me by my name!"_ he hissed back.

"I don't think you have to worry about any of that right now," Alexis interrupted their argument. "Nobody's paying any attention to us."

It was true. Since they had sat down at the Gryffindor table, not one of the other students had acknowledged them, except to occasionally ask to pass something their way.

"So this is what is feels like to be an exchange student," Ron sighed miserably. "I feel sorry for you, Alexis. Having to go through it twice."

"Oh, it's not so bad," Alexis said. "You kind of get a feel for what people are really like by just watching them. You can tell a lot about people just by how they interact with people. For instance…" she scanned their table. "That one right there –" she pointed to James – "I bet he's a real athlete. And that boy there – " she pointed to Sirius – " He seems like he'd be really popular. And that boy – " Lupin – "seems like he has a real wild side that he keeps hidden from other people." Harry, Ron, and Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief as she rattled off their personalities with such certainty after only watching them for two minutes. She laughed at the looks on their faces. "Like I said, you can tell a lot about a person just by watching them."

xXx

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Ron asked impatiently, watching all the other students ascend the stairs to the dormitories.

"Don't you listen?" Hermione exclaimed. "Dumbledore told us that arrangements would be made for us to sleep with the rest of the sixth years in our regular dorms."

Ron didn't reply, perhaps because he was too exhausted, but grumbled incoherently as he followed Harry up the stairs to the sixth year boys' dorm. Standing outside the door, they could hear voices from inside. Harry inhaled and turned the knob of the door, pushing it open. When they entered the room, the voices stopped, and Harry saw four boys standing in the middle of the room together.

"Oh. That's why."

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**Author's Note**: Well, that last bit might have made no sense. I wrote it pretty late at night and my mind may have been on other things, but what can you do? Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but I'm proud of myself that I'm able to do both this story and my homework. Usually I end up neglecting one of them…but not this time. I've somehow found the time to do both.

Oh, and just so you know, when there is complete paragraphs in italics, that means that it is in present time. Unitalicized paragraphs are paragraphs that take place in the past, with Harry and the Marauders.

Thank you to serrebi, Degare, Eric2 Lina and Mio for reviewing! I really appreciate the feedback! So, in English class we sometimes do this test where you get really random objects and have to incorporate them into your story. So, in your review, you should give me a random object, idea, or word, that you want me to put in my story, and it will go into the next chapter. If a lot of people review, it will be harder to put them all in, but also more interesting, so you everyone who reads this should review!

"You never see the bad days in a photo album but it's those days that get us from one happy snapshot to the next."

_-Tacky Socks_


	5. Secrets Don't Make Friends

**You Know What They Say…**

_Secrets Don't Make Friends_

By: Tacky Socks

xXx

_Last Chapter:_

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Ron asked impatiently, watching all the other students ascend the stairs to the dormitories.

"Don't you listen?" Hermione exclaimed. "Dumbledore told us that arrangements would be made for us to sleep with the rest of the sixth years in our regular dorms."

Ron didn't reply, perhaps because he was too exhausted, but grumbled incoherently as he followed Harry up the stairs to the sixth year boys' dorm. Standing outside the door, they could hear voices from inside. Harry inhaled and turned the knob of the door, pushing it open. When they entered the room, the voices stopped, and Harry saw four boys standing in the middle of the room together.

xXx

_James McLean lifted the brass knocker and tapped it gently against the oak door. _

_"Come in," was the response from the other side. James slowly opened the door and stepped into the office of Albus Dumbledore. The headmaster looked mildly surprised to see him there, but pleased just the same. "What brings you here this evening, James? You're not here to resign already, are you?" Dumbledore asked, a genial smile creasing his face._

_"No, nothing like that," James said. "I have something…well, something troubling to tell you." Dumbledore's brow furrowed, but the placated look remained on his face as he instructed James to continue. "It appears as if some students have gone missing," he said cautiously, put off by the headmaster's unconcerned attitude. _

_"Is that so?" Dumbledore asked. "Which students have gone missing?" He had finally taken a serious intonation as he raised himself from his chair so that he was level with James._

_"Well, my daughter for one," James began. "I'm not sure how many others are missing; all I know is that the last time she was seen, she was with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger… and two other boys."_

_"Two other boys?" Dumbledore repeated, making sure James had not made a mistake. _

_"That's what I was told," James confirmed. "A red-head and a blond." _

_Dumbledore paused for a moment and stared at the empty wall in front of him, as if a film only he could see was playing on it. After a moment, he began to nod his head and mutter affirmations. _

_"Headmaster?" James whispered worriedly. Dumbledore turned to look at him with understanding in his eyes._

_"I have a theory," he stated, sinking back into his chair. James crossed to his desk and took a chair opposite him, leaning forward expectantly. "I seem to recall an experience in my past dealing with five exchange students. I was still at that time headmaster, but only recently appointed and somewhat inexperienced. These five students came to me with an interesting story, to say the least. They told me that they had traveled back in time, and were in fact future students at Hogwarts." He paused here for James's reaction. _

_"So…" he said slowly. "You think that my daughter is currently in the past?" _

_"That is my theory."_

_"These students that you're talking about…did they ever make it back to their time?" James asked anxiously, dreading the answer. Dumbledore nodded his head._

_"Well of course they made it back. Although, it did take quite some time. I'm not sure exactly how long, but I would say well over a month," Dumbledore said, trying to recount the period. _

_"Well how did they get back? And how did they even get there in the first place?" James asked, frustrated with the headmaster's lack of information. Dumbledore thought back._

_"Well, I believe I recall them saying there had been an… incident," Dumbledore replied vaguely, thinking harder._

_"With candy?" James asked, remembering what Madam Pince had said._

_"Yes, I believe that is what they had told me," Dumbledore answered, remembering the conversation of years ago. He chuckled. "Time traveling candy…who would have thought? It was in the library, if I remember correctly. How did you…?"_

_"I've been asking around," James responded to his unfinished question. "Madam Pince had commented about something similar." He cleared his throat and stood up to pace the room. " So they traveled into the past by way of enchanted candy…" He stopped to chuckle himself before continuing to pace. " But how did they get back? Not the same way, I expect. It seemed to me like the candy incident was just a fluke…."_

_Dumbledore leaned back in his chair with his eyes raised to the ceiling. "Their journey back to the present is more perplexing even than their journey to the past. I cannot tell you exactly how it came to happen, but –" he paused and surveyed James while inhaling deeply – "I had come into my office one evening to find a pocket watch on my desk. It was very nice – shiny golden with a polished chain dangling off the edge – but I had no idea whose it was. The strangest thing about it was the fact that it was a digital watch; the kind muggles have. When I examined it closer, I saw that it had a letter attached to it. The letter had instructions on how to use the watch. And could you guess what this watch did?" _

_"It transported them forward in time?" James asked incredulously. Dumbledore nodded his head. "But who gave it to you?"_

_"I don't know; it wasn't signed. I believe I still have it around here somewhere…" Dumbledore rummaged around in his desk for a moment, but instead of pulling out a piece of parchment, he pulled out an old, dirty shoebox. "I would like to be more organized, but I'm afraid I had started a habit long ago of shoebox storage that I've never been able to break." He dug around in the shoebox for a few seconds before pulling out a small, torn piece of parchment and holding it to the light. "Ah, here it is." He handed it to James, who read the round letters written in orange ink._

_Headmaster,_

_DO NOT USE THIS WATCH BEFORE READING THE DIRECTIONS!_

_This watch will transport whoever is holding it to any period in time – past or future. To use it, set the time to the number of years you want to be transported in time by first pressing and holding the 'clock' button, and then the hour button. If you want to travel to the future, set it to P.M. If you want to travel into the past, set it to A.M. When you are ready to travel into time, let go of the clock button and wait ten seconds. _

_Use Cautiously_

_-Sincerely_

_Something about the letter looked familiar to James, but he couldn't figure out what it was. "Can I keep this for a little bit?" he asked, looking up at Dumbledore._

_"You may. Do you mind me asking what you are planning to do with it?" Dumbledore asked politely._

_"I don't know exactly. I just thought I'd study it for a little bit. There's something about it that I just can't put my finger on." _

_"Feel free to keep it as long as you like," Dumbledore said, closing the shoebox lid and putting it back into his desk drawer._

_"Albus?" James started, looking seriously at the headmaster. "You were there, so you would know… just tell me Alexis will be all right. I mean, nothing happened to her, did it?" _

_"You can sleep soundly tonight James. I'll have you know that they were under my watch the entire time they were there, and they left just as they'd come. They were fine. In fact, I daresay that Harry may have particularly enjoyed it." He winked mysteriously after this statement._

_"What do you mean?" James asked curiously._

_"Well, you know of Harry Potter's story, I expect?"_

_"Of course," James confirmed, nodding his head once._

_"Well, I expect he had a satisfying visit into the past spending time with his family."_

_James nodded in a sympathetic manner. Then he burst out a question that had been nagging at him since he first heard about his daughter's little expedition. "Professor, can a person change the future by traveling into the past?"_

_Dumbledore looked at him very seriously, choosing his words very carefully. "Well that is a very common question that has been argued over for centuries. The general consensus is that it is impossible to go back in time to change the past, because it would have already happened and therefore the consequences would have already taken place. However, the act of time-travel is so closely guarded and monitored that it hasn't been possible to properly test this hypothesis." _

_"So…no one knows for sure?" James asked, trying to sound casual._

_"That is correct. However, logic says that – " _

_"Thank you, headmaster. It's getting late. I should get some rest," James interrupted him. He stood up and tucked the parchment with the note written on it into the inside pocket of his robes. "Hope you have a good night."_

_"You too," Dumbledore said. "And James – try not to worry too much. We'll figure this out."_

_"I won't." James stepped out of his office, and heard the door close gently behind him. Descending the enchanted staircase, he headed not to his sleeping quarters, but to his office._

xXx

Harry woke up early the next morning and sat up in a tangle of bed-sheets. The room he was in looked different than the one in which he usually slept, and it wasn't until he looked to the person in the bed beside him that he remembered where he was.

Sixteen year-old Sirius Black slept soundly under a heap of deep red blankets in the bed next to Harry's. He was stretched out to the full extent of the bed and appeared as if he hadn't moved an inch since he had collapsed there the night before. To the left of Sirius's bed was Harry's father's, its occupant breathing heavily as his eyes shifted under his closed eyelids. Remus and Peter had apparently already woken up and departed, for their beds were empty.

Harry heard a loud yawn from the bed on his right and turned to find Ron just waking up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had a stupid, dull look on his face that made him look as if he had just been shot with a tranquilizer drug. He released another loud yawn before saying anything. "So what are we going to do today?"

"I don't know. Reckon we ought to head to breakfast?" Harry asked, picking his dirty clothes up from the floor, where he had thrown them after changing into the pajamas Remus had leant him the night before.

"Suppose so," Ron agreed, following Harry's lead and retrieving his robe from the floor. After they had both changed, they descended the staircase to the common room and exited through the portrait hole.

When they entered the Great Hall, they saw Hermione and Alexis already sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table. They took seats across from them and dished themselves some oatmeal.

"So what are we supposed to do today?" Alexis asked between bites of French toast.

"I dunno. We don't have to go to classes or anything, do we?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Well I should hope so!" Hermione exclaimed. "Ron, who knows how long we'll be here? We don't want to fall behind in our studies or we'll do poorly on our exams when we get back!"

"The horror!" Ron mocked.

"We'll probably have to go to classes," Alexis said. "After all," she lowered her voice, "we _are_ supposed to be exchange students, remember?" Alexis reminded them. "So who do you suppose we'd go to to get some schedules?"

"Is McGonagall still the Head of House?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Er – McGonagall was never Head of House," they heard someone say. Peter Pettigrew was staring at them, eavesdropping on their conversation. "Sorry," he apologized. "But if you're looking for the Head of Gryffindor house, it's Professor Davis."

"Who's Professor Davis?" Ron asked.

"Up there by Professor Dumbledore. He's the Astronomy teacher."

Harry stared icily at the stout boy next to them and cleared his throat. "Thanks, but next time we need your help, we'll ask for it," he said in a voice very unlike his own. It was icy and emotionless, which was ironic considering the amount of emotion he was currently feeling. He looked away from the boy, desperately wanting to jump from his seat and strangle the life out of him. Judging from the look Hermione was giving him, she knew what he was thinking and was silently trying to talk him out of it. "Don't worry," he spat angrily. Hermione looked as if she was about to apologize to Peter, but seemed to think better of it after seeing the dangerous glare Harry was shooting her way.

"We should go get schedules Harry," she said. "Alexis is right, we're going to have to go to class today, and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves by being late."

"It doesn't take all of us to get schedules, does it?" Harry shot. Hermione looked as if she had been slapped, but quickly recovered.

"There's no reason for you to be testy with me, Harry. I would think you'd be a bit more…pleasant here. Look around you – what have you got to complain about now?" With that she got up from the table to get their schedules, leaving Harry to stare guiltily after her.

xXx

An entire day had come and gone and still nobody had even talked to the 'new kids.' Harry had had the impression that the students would be more friendly and interested in exactly why they were there, but so far their new classmates had left them to themselves.

"Well, maybe they think we want to be left alone," Alexis said when Harry told them about his observation. "Why don't _you_ try talking to _them _if it bothers you so much?"

"It doesn't bother me, I was just saying…" Harry insisted. Then after a moment: "Besides, what would I say anyway?"

"Just go and introduce yourself. Say: 'Hi, my name is Harry. Would you like to be my friend?'" Alexis laughed at her own stupid idea.

"Would you be my friend if I said that to you?" Harry asked. "Besides, we're not supposed to use our real names," he whispered.

"Then say: 'Hi, my name is Charles. Or Devon. Or Blaine…'" Alexis suggested.

"'Hi, my name is Blaine. Would you like to be my friend?'" Ron helped, chuckling.

Harry just went back to the essay he had begun moments before. "I'm _not_ using the name Blaine. And I'm not saying that."

"Then stop complaining just to procrastinate with your essay," Hermione said.

"I wasn't complaining. And why do we have to do homework anyway? We're not even really students here."

"Keep your voice down. As far as everyone knows we _are_ really students here," Hermione reminded him for the hundredth time that day. "If we don't go to our classes and do our homework it will be obvious that something is going on."

Harry didn't reply, but looked over at Ron's paper, which was nearly as empty as his own. He decided he'd better get to work on his essay, but he didn't necessarily have to do a good job on it. He sighed and adjusted his glasses so he could see better before pulling his borrowed text-book closer to him and reading about Medieval Dragon Slayers.

xXx

An hour later, Harry wrote the last sentence of his essay and snapped the book shut. He looked up and found Hermione and Alexis both gone from the chairs they had been sitting at while working on their homework. Ron was still sitting next to him, his face screwed up in unnecessary concentration as he scribbled down information about Sir George. Harry looked around the common room to see where Hermione and Alexis had gone and found them sitting on the floor in the corner with a couple of other girls. He got up from his fireside chair and went to join them. He stood awkwardly behind them until Hermione turned around and saw him.

"Oh hi," she said, gesturing for him to sit down with them.

"Er – I was actually going to head upstairs," he said.

"Don't you want to make new friends?" Alexis teased, noticing him for the first time. She had been talking to two girls before and hadn't seen him walk up.

Harry ran his hand through his hair absent-mindedly and looked around uninterestedly, "Er…"

Alexis laughed. "This is Blaine," she introduced him, standing up beside him. Then she went around the small circle of girls. "Blaine, this is Ella, Maria, Lily, and Samantha. And you know Claire," she added, indicating Hermione. Harry nodded slowly, but found himself most transfixed with one person in particular. Her intense green eyes were definitely familiar, and she was smiling warmly at him from underneath long auburn hair.

"I'm sorry, your name was Lily?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Lily Evans."

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**Author's Note:** Wow, all my chapters are boring. Hmm…I think the next chapter is going to take a longer time because I need to think about how I can make the story be faster and more interesting without skipping around too much. So sorry about that. But hopefully it won't take too long. An extra thanks to Lil Miss Potter, who was my only reviewer for the last chapter. Yay! But thanks to everyone who reviewed.

Sincerely

_-Tacky Socks_

"Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject."


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